Presentation by Ms. Leah Marais,
Southern Africa Communications for Development (SACOD)

Thank you for this opportunity to present the work of the Southern African Communications for Development (SACOD) in the context of Broadcasting for Development. The Economic Commission for Africa's work in Africa has been increasingly appreciated by development and video practitioners in Southern Africa. The expected outcomes of this workshop, according to the issues note sent, include:

• Enhanced understanding of the emerging broadcasting for development landscape in Africa;
• Clarity on a strategic role for ECA and its partner development institutions in strengthening broadcasting for development in Africa;
• Agreement on partnership initiatives in broadcasting for development for 2003 and beyond;
• Establishment of a follow-up mechanism to strengthen and sustain these partnerships.

The strategic thrust of the issues note captures the challenges faced by SACOD. I will return at the end of this presentation to the expected outcomes. First an introduction to SACOD.

Introduction

The Southern Africa Communications for Development (SACOD) is a regional network of filmmakers, film production companies and distributors. SACOD was established in 1987 with a view to incorporate video within a joint information and education initiative in development in both Canada and Southern Africa.

The first two African partners or members of SACOD were Capricorn Video Unit (CVU) established in 1986 as a centre to outside agencies in Zimbabwe and the Video News Services (VNS) of South Africa established in 1985 as a resource centre for video production and distribution in Johannesburg.

SACOD is membership-driven and has members in ten of the fourteen SADC countries: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Our programmes include the support of mobile video units in 6 Southern African countries. Screenings are conducted with township and rural audiences and discussions range from teenage sexuality and pregnancy to health and reconciliation.

SACOD also hosts the annual SACOD Forum where filmmakers from the Southern African region and abroad meet to screen and discuss social development videos. The Forum is a valuable networking and training opportunity for filmmakers in the region.

How can the imperatives raised in the issues note be addressed? This is what SACOD is doing.

Advocacy and Lobbying Campaign

Central to SACOD's work is its Advocacy and Lobbying Campaign. Despite having endorsed the 1991 Windhoek Declaration many SADC countries still lag behind in enacting legislation promoting the free flow of information in the public interest. Media workers including independent film producers and distributors face worsening restrictions in their work. SACOD in association with its partners - MISA, AMARC and Article19, played a key role in the drafting and adoption of the African Charter on Broadcasting at the UNESCO Conference - Windhoek plus 10 - in May 2001. Across the continent, the African Charter on Broadcasting, which calls for the transformation of all state and government broadcasters into public services broadcasters, is still being debated.

SACOD's advocacy campaign aims to effectively lobby for the development of a thriving community of independent audio visual producers in Southern Africa whose programmes are broadcast on Southern African broadcasting channels as part of an overall increase in local content and a social contract in broadcasting.

The Campaign seeks to meet the development needs within the region through the increased use of public service and other broadcasters and through the establishment of a capable independent production sector that is orientated towards regional development issues.

Rights and issues for the independent producers and distributors include the following:

Legislation and policy: Although the legislative framework in most SADC countries is generally supportive of the inclusion of local content, intolerance to criticism of the government common in development films constrains most broadcasters. Few policy makers and politicians are attracted to the issues involved.

Local content: Many Public Service Broadcasters in the region do not have budgets for the acquisition, commission and co-production of locally made development programmes. Where there are budgets, many lack the vision and analytical framework to make decisions that support local content.

Distribution: A strategy to broadcast development films to beneficiaries is required. Most funding organisations that support film production do not require a distribution strategy - yet insistence on such a strategy would make the whole distribution mechanism simpler. SACOD has attempted to overcome the problem of distribution by running video loan centres and its mobile video units. The social and developmental benefits of film and videos cannot be ignored.

There is definitely a need to promote the use of audio-visual material as a development tool among civil society, and to offer assistance with the process.

The key features of our Advocacy Campaign are:

1. The development of advocacy tools - these include brochures and videos profiling the role of audio-visuals in media

2. Regional lobbying network - a network that lobbies regulators, broadcasters and funding partners to commit to support the inclusion of local content with developmental aims.

3. The lobbying for better resourced public service broadcasters and the creation of an enabling macro-economic environment for audio-visual production, including tariff regimes, tax incentives and co-production treaties

4. The creation of a Fund to assist the production of locally made development programmes.

Background

As a background to this presentation, we cannot ignore the role of broadcasters in the alleged war or invasion of Iraq. The images aired by Arabic stations show human suffering whereas the images put out by CNN or Sky News show the overwhelming military superiority of the alleged coalition forces.

These images help us to understand that both public and private broadcasters are not exempt to the `bidding of their political masters'. It shows that the liberalisation of broadcasting does not necessarily mean greater independence.

The African Development paradigm has usually been characterised by the polarity between urban and rural development. It might be a false separation. Many of the representations of African life makes the connection between the two. In the next decade the largest cities in the world will be in Africa and there will be the greater urbanisation of poverty (the poor are moving into the cities). This presents an opportunity for African filmmakers and broadcasters to have worldwide audiences for not only telling stories but also impact on the way African and other governments understand these issues.

In Conclusion:

SACOD really appreciates the ECA convening this long-awaited workshop and look forward to concrete proposals and partnerships emerging from the short time spent here.

The following key issues need to be addressed for the outcomes to be achieved by the ECA as a multilateral agency:

• To create the connection between development agencies at the international, national, city, NGO, and community level and the audio and broadcast practitioners to reach greater consensus on the development landscape.
• That this forum be extended to ensuring ongoing interaction between the present participants and the inclusion of development practitioners.
• A key issue around broadcasting for development is long distance education and the role of the private sector in partnerships. We know that in Ethiopia there is a programme intended to connect 1000 high schools to a learning network. This requires investigation by ECA as an alternative way of looking at raising development issues to a key constituency - our youth. Within SACOD there is a key partnership between a major private sector film distributor and the Film Resource Unit to distribute Southern African documentaries. We may wish to look at these as case studies that will help other organisations develop their own models.

My closing remark is that like any other enterprise, the key issue for sustainability is the capitalisation and capacity-building of those film and broadcasting enterprises. This seems to be at the heart of broadcasting for development.

Thank you.